Mother Teresa's condition improves slightly but she remains gravely ill

THE condition of Mother Teresa (85), the Nobel peace laureate, improved slightly yesterday, a spokeswoman for her Missionaries…

THE condition of Mother Teresa (85), the Nobel peace laureate, improved slightly yesterday, a spokeswoman for her Missionaries of Charity order said.

"The doctors say her general condition has improved slightly although she is not out of danger," Sister Priscilla said. She "gave no further details.

Thousands of people, including Muslims and Hindus, earlier joined in prayer for the Albanian born nun as she fought against a weakening heart in a nursing home in Calcutta.

Mother Teresa was admitted to the Woodlands Nursing Home last Tuesday with malarial fever and severe vomiting. A hospital official said earlier yesterday she was conscious but in grave condition because her heart remained vulnerable.

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Mother Teresa, who marks her 86th birthday tomorrow, remained on a respirator in intensive care and was still being fed intravenously.

"Mother Teresa's condition shows no appreciable change," Dr S.K. Sen, medical director of the Woodlands Nursing Home, told reporters yesterday. "Her cardiac irregularity is under control but she still needs respiratory support. She still has a low grade fever.

Thousands of people joined in Catholic services at churches across India in a spontaneous, outpouring of concern. Special prayers were held at the Mother House, the sprawling headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, the order Mother Teresa founded 47 years ago to help the poor and destitute.

"Even a maulvi (Muslim cleric) came and knelt in the chapel," Sister Priscilla said.

She said several Hindus and Muslims had visited Mother House to inquire about Mother Teresa, adding: "She is a living saint for everybody here."

Mother Teresa was conscious but had not spoken to anyone, Dr Sen said. Anything could happen, given her age, he added. Her doctors have forbidden visitors.

A panel of six specialists have kept a round the clock vigil over Mother Teresa, whose heart was fitted with a pacemaker in 1989, 10 years after she won the Nobel Peace Prize.

On Saturday, Mother Teresa's fever fell slightly and Dr Sen had said she was showing surprising strength, though her weak heart complicated the picture.